UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev wants to face the former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker. Chimaev posted on Instagram to call Whittaker out, asking for a supposedly respectful “good guy vs. bad guy” fight.
Previously, Khamzat appeared at the UFC 279 press conference to dismiss the idea, but it seems that Whittaker’s recent difficulty in finding an opponent has increased Khamzat’s interest.
Khamzat Calls Out Whittaker
“I like that guy so, I don’t want to fight the good guys, you know? I need some bad guy, so I want to fight some bad guy, you know, and don’t feel sorry for that. I want to train with that guy, he’s really good like, you know, one of the best guys in the world.”
Whittaker, who was supposed to face Paulo Costa this weekend at UFC 284 in Australia, has no opponent booked in the near future. He did, however, tell Submission Radio that he is very open to facing Khamzat Chimaev.
“Let’s do it. Whatever. Yeah, I don’t know. Like, if it’s a fight that gets presented to me, then it is what it is. Yeah, I think it’d be a good fight. I think he’d be a hard fight. I think he’s a phenomenal fighter. I think he has a lot of strengths. I think I have a lot of strengths. I think I’m a hard fighter for him just the same. And I’m quite good with my hands, can stuff a lot of takedowns. I’m hard to hold down. I’m squirmy, you see. Yeah, it’ll be an interesting fight. That’ll be a showstopper for sure. I’m sure it’ll get a lot of people interested and excited.
The reason why it would be a fight that’s worth making is because he’s riding the hype train, and because UFC want to bring this guy, who’s the boogeyman to a lot of guys, up in the rankings. They want him to fight me at the top of the chain so that it opens the door to whoever wins, and then jump behind. That’s the only reason it makes sense.”
The fight could put either fighter on track for a run at the middleweight title. Khamzat remains undefeated in the UFC, and has enjoyed a fast-track to UFC gold ever since his arrival in 2020. Whether this fight comes to fruition or not is up to the UFC matchmakers.
Is Khamzat vs Whittaker the fight to make? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbsrDP5TLs
